


we may be a mess but we're still a family

by HazelHawks



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Family, Avengers Movie Night, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, F/M, General Chaos, Irondad, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Natasha Romanov Feels, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Steve Rogers is the Mom Friend, Team as Family, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, based off tumblr posts, chapters will (probably) get longer, clint and natasha break into the tower at three am, clint's in the vents for some reason, more tags will be added, non-consistent uploads, the avengers think peter is tony's son
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-05-19 05:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19350421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazelHawks/pseuds/HazelHawks
Summary: They both moved in the super-soldiers direction and Tony asked innocently, “Whatcha found there, Cap?”“Four dollars?  For milk?” Steve asked, as if he thought he was hallucinating.“Yeah, that’s pretty standard around here,” Tony replied nonchalantly, smile widening when he saw Natasha discreetly recording from the pocket of her purple and grey hoodie.  The hoodie which, now that he thought about it, looked a lot like one he had seen Barton wearing.Semi-connected looks into the lives of the Avengers from a1 to past an happy ending of civil war.  (No infinity war or endgame)





	1. assassins get hungry too

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm not dead!
> 
> Anyways, these first few chapters will be pre-civil war and the rest will be more connected where the whole team moves into the compound after Civil War and everything is good. Also, they think Peter is Tony's son at first, but what else is new.
> 
> Oh and did I mention Peter has foster parents and therefore can be adopted by a certain billionare?

Everyone who knew any member of the Avengers was aware of one simple fact. When they were in the same place for any extended period of time, it was chaos. On a mission it was fine, mostly because they were focused on a common goal: stopping the bad guy. Sure, there was no end to the teasing and banter they somehow managed to keep up while fighting, but they were all working towards a common goal. When they weren’t on a mission, however, it was a disaster. Tony and Bruce nearly blew up the top floor of the tower after only two days in the lab together, Thor accidentally broke dozens of things when he visited on account of his size and the fragility of many of the decorations in the tower, and Clint and Natasha were constantly raiding Tony’s food both after missions and at random other times, as he found out when walking into the kitchen at three a.m. and nearly having a heart attack.

“How did you get in?” he half-yelled after he recovered, “Don’t you know I have a heart condition?!”

“Oh we know,” Natasha commented from one of the couches, dressed in full gear and clearly back from a mission judging by the state of it. 

“We just don’t care,” Clint finished, gear in a worse state than Natasha’s.

“And why did you feel the need to drop in, other than to give the man who flew a missle into a portal and saved New York heart failure?” Tony asked, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms.

Clint shrugged and stated, “We were hungry.” from where he was taking up as much of the couch as possible, his legs laying across Natasha’s lap.

“So you decided to break into the most secure building in New York?” 

The archer nodded in response and threw a piece of popcorn into his mouth. Tony sighed in resignation and ran a hand over his face with exhaustion before asking, “What were you even doing?” 

“Oh, just saving the Tri-State area.”

“I didn’t hear about any trouble in the Tri-State area,” He said suspiciously.

“Yeah, cause we do our job.”

“Whatever. It’s too late for this, have at it,” Tony replied, waving a hand dismissively and heading for the hallway, “Oh and Barton, drop the suit off when you have a chance, I don’t know how SHIELD lets you run around in that flimsy thing. Also leave the quiver, I can double the reaction time on the arrowhead switcher.” With that, he went to bed and woke up the next morning to find them gone, making him wonder if he hadn’t hallucinated the whole thing. When a purple and black suit mysteriously showed up in his lab a few days later, he knew the answer.


	2. super-soldier shopping

Pepper knew she shouldn’t have let Tony outdoors. They had just been relaxing and watching the news when there was a ding from Tony’s phone. He picked it up, snickered, and reached around her to grab his jacket from the back of the couch.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Pepper asked, eyebrow raised.

“Capsicle asked Widow for grocery help,” he replied gleefully.

“And?”

“And?” he sputtered, “This is history taking place! The man hasn’t done this since the forties, it’s going to be priceless!” Pepper sighed and rubbed her temples before muttering something about adult children.

“I heard that!” Tony called as he disappeared in the direction of the elevator.

*********************

The little excursion did not disappoint. Thirty minutes later, Tony found himself laughing the hardest he had in months as Steve sputtered about high prices for the seventh time since they had arrived. 

“Eight dollars? It’s pie, not gold!” Steve exclaimed, “I thought the future was supposed to be better!”

“It is,” Tony replied, and they both turned to look at him. “I mean, I’m here.” 

Natasha scoffed in response and turned back towards Steve only to find that he had moved on to the dairy section. After they heard an indignant noise from his direction she slipped her phone out of the back pocket of her jeggings and winked at Tony who grinned back. 

They both moved in the super-soldiers direction and Tony asked innocently, “Whatcha found there, Cap?” 

“Four dollars? For milk?” Steve asked, as if he thought he was hallucinating.

“Yeah, that’s pretty standard around here,” Tony replied nonchalantly, smile widening when he saw Natasha discreetly recording from the pocket of her purple and grey hoodie. The hoodie which, now that he thought about it, looked a lot like one he had seen Barton wearing.

“Four dollars!” Steve repeated loudly, throwing his hands up in exasperation, “Why don’t I just buy a cow?!” Tony snickered and even Natasha had a sly smile on her face instead of her usual half-smirk.

In the end, they got kicked out for making too much noise. Tony still chalked it up as a success, though.


	3. coffee cures depression, right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie night!!! (Still pre-Winter Soldier)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> H A P P Y  
> 1 0 1 s t  
> B I R T H D A Y  
> S T E V E  
> R O G E R S  
> !!!!!!!!!!

“Is the 4th of July really your birthday Rogers?” Tony asked, walking into the common room to join the rest of the team for movie night.

“Yes,” Natasha replied, not looking up from her phone. 

Tony eyed her incredulously and quiered, “Are you named Rogers?” Silence was the only reply and he smirked, “That’s what I thought.”

“Yeah, it is my birthday. Funny, right?” Steve replied, setting a large bowl of fresh-made popcorn of the table before seeing what Tony had in his hand and frowning disapprovingly. “Tony, more coffee?” 

“Yep,” the billionaire replied chiperly, plopping down on another couch next to Bruce and putting his feet up on the coffee table, “Coffee cures depression. And exhaustion.” He took a long slurp and raised his eyebrows, waiting for a response.

Steve sighed and Bruce replied, “No, it doesn’t.”

“More espresso, less depresso.” 

Natasha snorted and watched Tony’s smug look change into one of indignation as Steve crossed the room in three strides and grabbed the cup from his hands.

“Hey, give that back!” Tony yelped as he shot up and glared at the super soldier. “You’re standing on thin ice, Rogers.”

“I’m standing on the floor.”

“It’s an expression.”

“It’s a carpet.”

Tony then perceived that Steve was trying to keep a straight face and that Bruce was holding in a laugh. “Ha ha, real funny guys,” he said, voice dripping with sarcasm, and Bruce let out the laugh he was holding in. “Wait, where’s birdbrain?” Tony asked after noticing there was someone missing from the gathering. 

Bruce and Steve shrugged, but the question was answered when Steve sneezed suddenly, a voice from above them shouted, “God Bless America!”, and the archer in question dropped from the vents to land on the couch next to Natasha, who fistbumped him without looking up. Clint grinned at Steve’s annoyed look and gave a cheeky two-fingered salute before grabbing the whole bowl of popcorn to nestle it securely in his lap. Tony used this distraction to quickly grab his coffee back from Steve and retreat to his corner next to Bruce. Steve gave him the third annoyed look in as many minutes and joined Clint and Natasha on their couch. 

“Are we missing anyone else?” he asked, remote in hand. 

“Yeah, actually,” Tony said, “Since Thor couldn’t make it today, I invited Rhodey. He should be here soon.” Steve nodded in response and put the remote back down. He was excited to meet the pilot again, as they had only met in passing when he had come to the tower. After a few minutes of idle chatter, the colonel walked in carrying a grocery bag of snacks. 

“Rhodeybear!” Tony yelled happily, walking over to hug his best friend.

“How’s it going, Tones?” Rhodey replied with a smile.

“Oh, you know, just Steve trying to mother me to death. CLINT BARTON YOU HAVE ENOUGH FOOD.” 

Clint stuck his tongue out at Tony childishly, but stopped trying to grab the bag of snacks and walked back to the couch. Steve got up as the archer returned, walking over to Rhodey.

“Colonel Rhodes, it’s good to see you again,” Steve said as they shook hands.

“Likewise. And please, call me Rhodey,” he replied pleasantly before they took their seats and started the movie. Normal shenanigans ensued including Clint throwing popcorn at everyone, Tony mocking the science being used in the movie, and pillows being thrown at various people. By the movie’s end (at one in the morning), everyone except Natasha and Rhodey were asleep. Rhodey excused himself to his room for the night, and Natasha took stock of the rest of the room. Bruce was on curled up on his side and softly snoring, Clint was on the floor with the near-empty bowl of popcorn on his stomach, and Tony, who had moved to her couch at some point, had snuggled up to Steve in his sleep and had his head resting on the captain’s shoulder. She smiled before pulling her out phone to snap a picture of the sleeping pair and cooing softly at the result. That done, she walked over to Bruce and laid a blanket over him before yawning and considering her next course of action. She grabbed the last blanket and one of the pillows on the floor and laid down next to Clint, removing the popcorn bowl and using the blanket to cover both of them. She rested her head on the pillow and sighed contently before she realized something with a shock.

For the first time in her life, she had a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all have a happy (and safe) 4th of July!
> 
>  
> 
> Also I would give my left arm for a drawing of this chapter.


	4. strawgetti

Despite only Tony and Bruce living in the tower, you could almost always find at least one other member of the team somewhere in the building. After the incident with Clint and Natasha at 3am, Tony gave the whole team full security clearance, which was used often. Thor liked to stay overnight when he needed to get away from the stuff on Asgard, Steve would come over and make sure Tony was getting proper sleep or food at least twice a week, and Clint and Natasha were there a lot of the time they weren’t on missions. Rhodey liked to visit anytime he could get away from Air Force business, and Pepper would come up to see Tony pretty often.

Even though they all had busy lives, they tried to get together at the tower every Friday night, whether it was to watch something, play games, or just have a meal. Which lead to Steve walking onto the floor reserved for their team one such Friday to hear Clint and Natasha arguing from the kitchen.

“I don’t think you should be using a straw,” Natasha stated.

“I know, I know, it’s ‘bad for the environment’ ”, Clint replied, the eyeroll evident in his voice .

“No, it’s just a weird way to eat spaghetti.”

Steve was interested now, and walked around the corner to see, just like she had said, Clint eating spaghetti with a straw. “What- why?” he sputtered.

“Don’t ask,” Bruce answered from the other side of the table, obviously amused by the whole thing. 

“O-kay,” Steve replied, “Well I’m just going to drop some stuff at my room quick, and then I’ll be back.” Tony had given them all had their own rooms on the team floor, and they were used whenever anyone didn’t want to drive back to their residence after a long night. Tony walked into the kitchen a few seconds after Steve had left, and helped himself to the large pot of spaghetti Bruce had made.

“How are you doing today Tony?” Natasha asked, pointedly ignoring Clint’s loud slurping next to her.

“Oh, you know, not bad. Just a headache that comes and goes.”

Steve walked back into the room just then and shook his head at Clint’s eating efforts before noticing Tony near the stove. “Hey, Tony,” he greeted.

“Aaaaand there it is again,” Tony sighed, “Hi, Rogers.” He went to sit down with his food before finally noticing was Clint was doing and stopping. He blinked a few times in disbelief before stating, “There are times I regret things. Like living - Clint what the heck.”

***************************************

After the meal was finished, Tony, Clint, and Natasha decided to introduce Steve to Mario Cart. He caught on quickly, in fact, a little too quickly, leading to a fierce competition and much shouting from everyone involved. 

“YOU WERE FROZEN WHEN VIDEO GAMES WERE MADE!”

 

“STOP SAYING YOU’RE ON MY RIGHT CLINT, I CAN SEE YOU PASSING ME!”

 

“TASHA, DID YOU JUST FREAKING BLUE-SHELL ME!?”

“Yep.”

 

“I SAVED NEW YORK, SO STOP BUMPING INTO ME!”

“Tony you’ve been using that excuse for six months.”

 

“CLINT BARTON HOW ARE YOU SO ACCURATE WITH THOSE GREEN SHELLS”

****************************

Bruce put a stop to the gaming session an hour later, opting to watch a documentary instead. Tony and Clint whined for fifteen minutes at the news, but actually ended up enjoying the show.

“If frozen, lobsters can come back to life when thawed,” said the narrator at one point, causing everyone to instantly look at Steve. He put his head in his hands and groaned loudly at Tony’s wide grin, knowing that “lobster” was about to become part of the man’s nicknames for him.

When the show was over, everyone was laying around in various states of exhaustion and the room was mostly quiet. That is, until Tony spoke up.

“Hey Bruce,” he grinned, the tone of his voice indicating a bad joke was on the way.

“Yes Tony?” Bruce replied tiredly.

“What happens to nitrogen when the sun rises?”

“I don’t know, what?” Bruce started, then figured out the answer and grinned back, “It becomes daytrogen.” 

Natasha stared at both of them blankly before standing up and stating, “I’m going to bed.”

“Good nitrogen!” 

“Sleep tightrogen!”


	5. "let me see what you have" "a knife!" "NO"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ciao friends! I'm back! It's a short chapter but better than nothing, as far as I'm concerned.

It was a well-known fact that Tony spent most of his time in the lab. He was constantly making upgrades to everyone’s suits and gear, whether or not it actually turned out to be useful. For example, he made Clint several new types of arrow one day, including an ultra-thin precision arrow that Clint was told to go try out on the shooting range. Tony knew where he had actually gone when a few minutes later the precision arrow thudded into the side of a Jenga game that Natasha and Bruce were playing, successfully dislodging a block with a force so great the block flew about ten feet before skidding across the floor.

“Does this look like the shooting range?!” Tony asked, spotting Clint hanging upside down from one of the vents on the far side of the room.

“The world’s my shooting range,” Clint replied before letting out a yelp and disappearing back into the vents as he spotted Natasha coming towards him with a knife.

“Don’t think I won’t follow you up there!” she called up to the ceiling, smirking when the scuttling noises became more urgent. She sheathed her knife and turned around before seeing Bruce and Tony’s wide eyes and asking, “What?”

“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Tony stated, turning back to the coffee maker.

“Yeah,” Bruce echoed.

“I heard a scream, is everything okay?” Steve asked, walking in through the doorway.

“Peachy, why do you ask,” Tony replied, sipping his coffee.

“There’s an arrow in the floor.”

“I’ll pay for it, it’s fine.”

“You can’t just throw money at all of your problems, Tony,” Steve said with exasperation, not expecting Tony to reach into his pocket, pull out a wad of cash, and launch it his direction. Steve, unprepared, let the money hit him in the chest and fall to the floor as Tony slurped his coffee loudly. Steve looked down at the money, then back up at Tony as Bruce burst out laughing.

“Good throw,” Natasha approved, corners of her lips upturned slightly.

“I know,” Tony replied smugly. Suddenly a clanging noise came from above and everyone looked up to see Clint’s face poking out of the vents.

“Uh...you gonna keep that?” he asked after a moment of silence. A knife thudded into the metal next to his head a few seconds later and he let out girlish scream before grabbing the knife and disappearing into the vents once again.

“I better get that knife back!” She yelled up at the ceiling.

“Haha! Nope, you threw it, it’s mine now!” Clint cackled, his voice muffled by the vents.

“Natasha,” Steve scolded disapprovingly, “Empty your pockets.” She complied, and soon four knives were on the table, soon followed by five others of various sizes and shapes. “Natasha. Why.”

“Assassins,” Tony shook his head, leaving for the workshop once again. His tower was getting more chaotic by the day, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for the support!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you have any posts/interactions you want to see, plz tell me and I will put it in.


End file.
